Statutory rules under Article 309 remain binding until formally amended; executive intent alone cannot override them.

Statutory rules framed under the proviso to Article 309 remain operative until formally amended and cannot be displaced by executive orders, executive practice, or a mere intention to amend. An unmade amendment does not override the existing rule, and any later amendment will ordinarily operate prospectively unless retrospective effect is expressly provided or necessarily implied. The Tribunal erred by ignoring the governing rule and sustaining the consequential orders on the assumption of an amendment that had not been enacted; the appeals succeeded and the matter was remitted for fresh disposal in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether statutory rules framed under Article 309 of the Constitution can be treated as overridden or rendered inoperative merely because the Government had expressed an intention to amend them and acted on that basis.

Analysis: The rules in question were statutory rules framed under the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution. Such rules continue to operate until they are formally amended and cannot be displaced by executive orders or executive practice. A mere decision to amend does not obliterate the existing rule, and any amendment, when made, would ordinarily operate prospectively unless retrospective operation is expressly provided or necessarily implied. The Tribunal erred in ignoring the existing rule and upholding the consequential orders on the assumption of an unmade amendment.

Conclusion: The Tribunal's view was ; the appeals succeeded, the impugned order was set aside, and the matter was remitted to the Tribunal for fresh disposal in accordance with law.

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